Choose to refuse!

Bag busters!
For more information...
Marrickville Council: www.marrickville.nsw.gov.au City of Sydney Council: www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au Planet Ark: www.planetark.com Clean Up Australia: www.cleanup.com.au ABC - Issues About Plastic Bags: www.abc.net.au/science/features/bags/default.htm

The Watershed
218 King Street Newtown NSW 2042 Phone: 9519 6366 Fax: 9519 7706 Email: watershed@marrickville.nsw.gov.au

Printed on 100% recycled paper

Did you know?

Australians dump 230,000 recyclable plastic bags in landlls every hour, thats 7 billion/year! Plastic bags take up to 1,000 years to decompose in the natural environment.

How do plastic bags pollute Newtown?

A Bagbusters survey revealed approximately 200 plastic bags are used by every Newtown shopper each year on average. Plastic bags that enter the stormwater system in King Street end up in Sydney Harbour and Botany Bay. Plastic bags threaten marine life, cause major pollution and can block drains causing localised flooding.

The current climate:

> NSW Premier Bob Carr indicated in March 2004 that the NSW State Government is committed to addressing the plastic bag problem. > State and Federal ministers have indicated that the retail industry will be required to halve plastic bag usage by 2005. > Marrickville and City of Sydney Councils have committed substantial resources to assisting the community to break the plastic bag habit and move towards a more sustainable society.

Plastic bags kill hundreds of thousands of birds, sh, turtles and other sea creatures every year.

Plastic bags cost Australian businesses $173 million/year.

Bag distributor contact list

Business Name
BagWise Community Bags Colquhouns Sydney Bag Co DGM International DGM International Ecocern EcoSilk Bags Fresh Green Bag Gispac Green Zucchini Paper-Pak Planet Ark Planet Ark Planet Ark Planet Zok RBS Recycling Pty Ltd

Bag Material
Polypropylene Calico Polypropylene Calico Post consumer recycled paper Parachute Silk (100% nylon) Calico Reusable Fabric Bags Polypropylene Post consumer recycled paper Calico Paper Polypropylene Calico Calico

Bag Details
Styles Carry bags, bottle bags 3 sizes Customised or stock bags 3 sizes Flat or gusseted carry bags Singlet bags Shopping, gusset shopping and shoulder bags Customised or stock bags Gift, boutique, shopper and bottle bags Variety of styles Colours Variety of colours Neutral 7 colours available Neutral Brown 10 colours available Black and neutral Black Over 10 colours available Variety of colours Neutral Printed gusseted stock bags Gusseted stock bags Brown Navy blue Handles Short handles Short handles or shoulder straps Short handles Short handles or shoulder strap Short cut out or tape handles Short handles Short handles, shoulder straps or drawstring Short handles or drawstring 2 handles Short paper twist handles, rope handles Short handles Short handles Short handles Short handles or shoulder straps Short handles Yes Yes Yes Yes Standard print only White print only Yes Printing Available Yes Yes Yes Yes Unsure Yes

Contact
bagwise@bigpond.net.au 9310 2000 9669 1333 9669 1333 93372737 6689 7408 info@ecosilkbags.com.au 9736 3274 9906 3366 greenzuc@optusnet.com.au 9648 4388 doug@planetark.com 9300 9270 doug@planetark.com 9300 9270 doug@planetark.com 9300 9270 0425 346 946 9673 2166

Bag distributor contact list

About The Watershed

Some current Watershed projects include About The Watershed
The Watershed Sustainability Resource Centre at 218 King St Newtown is a joint initiative of Marrickville and City of Sydney Councils. King St both forms the boundary between the two local government areas, and is a natural ridge line or watershed between the Sydney Harbour and Botany Bay catchments. Since November 2002, The Watershed has developed and delivered a range of innovative projects supporting local community engagement in sustainability. The Watershed represents an ongoing Council commitment to the environment, focussing on issues such as stormwater pollution, eco-business initiatives, and sustainability in the home.

Shopfront Advisory Service

The Watershed is open from 10am 4pm Monday to Saturday, and offers free advice on Council services and environmental issues to local businesses and the general public. There is also a range of merchandise such as worm farms, compost bins, calico bags and reusable thermal travel mugs.

The Watershed Awards

Recognising the environmental achievements of local businesses, residents and volunteers helps to celebrate and promote positive initiatives. Inaugurated in 2003, The Watershed Awards are planned to be an annual event.

Workshop Series
A free Saturday workshop series has inspired hundreds of participants to take action for sustainability. Workshops are designed to be practical, promoting simple and inexpensive environmental solutions which can be easily passed on from participants to their friends and family. The current workshop schedule is: > 1st Sat of every month: Worm Farming > 3rd Sat of every month: Natural Cleaning > 4th Saturday of every month: Low Cost EnviroTips for Your Home. There are several projects in development, including a partnership with Realtors to address illegal dumping and provide information on sustainability and council services to residents; and a partnership with local cafes addressing waste by promoting reusable thermal travel mugs for take away beverages.

Environmental Reference Library

The Watershed has an enormous range of resources and books on issues including waterwise gardening, local ora and fauna, environmentally friendly petcare, rainwater tanks, composting, sustainable urban design, natural cleaning, and environmental theory. Visitors are welcome to research issues in the shopfront.

Volunteer Community Educators

The Watershed supports a dedicated and talented team of volunteers, providing the support and resources to engage the local community in sustainability issues. Volunteers are a central part of the project, assisting in the development and facilitation of workshops, designing education strategies, and compiling research.

Cork Recycling
In partnership with Taronga Zoo, The Watershed provides a much-needed cork deposit facility for local restaurants, hotels and residents. The sale of corks for reprocessing into boat decking and oor tiling contributes to the rehabilitation of animal habitats at Taronga Zoo, whilst diverting tens of thousands of corks from landll every month.

What are we doing about it?

Building a plastic bag free Newtown & beyond!
Bagbusters works together with local businesses
and shoppers to reduce the amount of plastic carry bags used. > Avoid providing plastic bags altogether. > Offer reusable bag options for sale to customers, such as recycled paper, calico, hemp, boxes or polypropylene (green bags). The Distributor Contact Information in this kit will help you nd bag wholesalers in Sydney. > Consider charging a 10c levy for each plastic bag. Bunnings Warehouse and Ikea have succeeded in reducing plastic bag usage up to 95% with this levy. Proceeds can be donated to a local environmental charity! > Provide incentives for customers to avoid plastic bags. > Begin a plastic bag reuse system. Customers can bring in their plastic bags for reuse. > Train staff to ask customers; Do you need a bag? with their purchase. > Display signs reminding customers to bring their own bags. > City of Sydney and Marrickville Councils have been distributing calico bags to residents.

Bagbusters supports and acknowledges

businesses that have embraced sustainable changes. The Bagbusters project is supported by City of Sydney and Marrickville Councils.

Building a plastic bag free Newtown & beyond

Offer reusable bags, with your logo printed

PAPER 20c

Train staff to pack more items in each bag

Provide incentives for customers to bring their own bag - be creative!

CALICO $2

do you need a bag? POLYPROPYLENE

$ 10.00
choose se to refu Bagbusters!

Display a Bagbusters Wobbler

LBOY GIR G MA L GIR BOY G MA

TAKE A LOLLY, NOT A BAG

Begin a plastic bag reuse system. Customers can bring in their used plastic bags to be re-used at the checkout

FREE RE-USED PLASTIC BAGS

BRING A B AG!
Remind customers to bring their own bag

MILK

Y BO L GR GI A

How Bagbusters can help your business

> >

Bagbusters

can work with you to design a plastic bag reduction strategy, tailored to your business needs.

Bagbusters can provide signage and window stickers to promote your business as environmentally aware. In a recent Bagbusters survey, 77% of King Street shoppers indicated that they would favour businesses who were actively reducing plastic bag usage. Bagbusters can offer training to assist your staff in promoting a plastic bag free environment.

>

> This information kit contains contacts of suppliers of reusable alternatives to plastic bags.

Recognising outstanding businesses

> A window sticker will be issued to businesses to identify support for Bagbusters. > Point of Sale signage will be provided to businesses to promote their commitment to sustainable environments. > Plastic bag free businesses participating in the Bagbusters project will be placed on an honour board in The Watershed shopfront. > Whiteboards or street-sweepers will be distributed to the first 40 businesses to actively reduce their plastic bag use.

cho to ose ref use

Ba gb us te rs !

How Bagbusters can help your business